Bracket assembly

ABSTRACT

In one embodiment, the present disclosure provides a bracket assembly comprising a bridge which in turn comprises a central span, a wing attached to the central span, an arm receiving slot; and one or more anus comprising a central region and a flange, wherein said central region and said flange are connected by an offset; the bridge and said arm being adapted to be coupled together. In another embodiment, the present disclosure provides a joint comprising a first work piece and a second work piece; a bracket assembly comprising a bridge comprising a central span, having a wing extending from said central span at approximately equal angles, said bridge further comprising a arm receiving slot; and a arm comprising a central region connected by an offset to a flange, said arm further comprising a bridge receiving slot wherein said arm receiving slot and said bridge receiving slot engage thereby mating said bridge and said arm; and fastening means to connect the bracket assembly to said work pieces. The present disclosure also provides a method of using the bracket assembly to assembly furniture.

FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE

The present disclosure relates to a reversibly coupling bracket assemblythat can be attached to and thereby position two (2) or more angularlydisposed work pieces W1, W2. In one embodiment, the bracket assembly isremovably attached to work pieces W1, W2 that form part of the frame ofan article of furniture.

BACKGROUND

Furniture often is manufactured in a multi-step process whereby a frameis constructed, often of wood, plywood, or oriented strand board,covered with padding and then the frame/padding structure is coveredwith the desired upholstery material such as cloth or leather.Currently, a substantial portion of mass-produced furniture features apre-assembled exposed wood base that is applied to the bottom of theupholstered piece of furniture. Conventional pre-assembled framespresent various challenges to construct quickly in a mass production orassembly line setting. Challenges include the proper positioning andfastening together of the various furniture support pieces. Accordingly,it is desirable to have an apparatus, such as the bracket assembly ofthe present disclosure, which allows for the quick, efficient,economical and proper construction of pre-assembled frames.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

For better understanding of the bracket assembly disclosed herein,reference should be made to the following detailed description whichshould be read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 shows a front view of one embodiment of the bridge 2.

FIG. 2 shows an alternate view of the embodiment of the bridge 2 of FIG.1.

FIG. 3 shows a left-perspective view of the bridge 2 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 shows a right-perspective view of the bridge 2 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 5 shows a top view of the bridge 2 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 6 shows a front view of one embodiment of an arm 14.

FIG. 7 shows a left-perspective view of the arm 14 of FIG. 6.

FIG. 8 shows a right-perspective view of the arm 14 of FIG. 6.

FIG. 9 shows an alternate view of the arm 14 of FIG. 6

FIG. 10 shows a top view of the arm 14 of FIG. 6.

FIG. 11 shows a front view of one embodiment of a partially assembledbracket assembly 1.

FIG. 12 shows a top view of the partially assembled bracket assembly ofFIG. 11

FIG. 13 shows one embodiment of a partially assembled bracket assembly1.

FIG. 14 shows a top view of the partially assembled bracket assembly 1of FIG. 11.

FIG. 15 shows a front view of one embodiment of a fully assembledbracket assembly 1.

FIG. 16 shows a top view of the fully assembled bracket assembly 1 ofFIG. 15.

FIG. 17 shows a left-perspective view of the fully assembled bracketassembly 1 of FIG. 15.

FIG. 18 shows a right-perspective view of the fully assembled bracketassembly 1 of FIG. 15.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The corresponding structures, materials, acts, and equivalents of allmeans or step plus function elements in the claims below are intended toinclude any structure, material, or act for performing the function incombination with other claimed elements as specifically claimed. Thedescription of the present disclosure has been presented for purposes ofillustration and description, but is not intended to be exhaustive orlimited to the disclosure in the form disclosed. Many modifications andvariations will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the artwithout departing from the scope and spirit of the disclosure. Theembodiments herein were chosen and described in order to best explainthe principles of the disclosure and the practical application, and toenable others of ordinary skill in the art to understand the disclosurefor various embodiments with various modifications as are suited to theparticular use contemplated. As used herein, the singular forms “a”,“an” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unlessthe context clearly indicates otherwise. Further, as used herein, theterm “approximately” means reasonably close to the quantity or qualitybeing described as would be understood by one skilled in the art.

The bracket assembly 1 of the present disclosure provides a novel anduseful way of detachably positioning at least two (2) or more workpieces W1, W2 relative to one another. As will be described below, thebracket assembly 1, in one particular embodiment, provides a novel anduseful way of detachably positioning at least two (2) or more workpieces W1, W2, wherein the work pieces W1, W2 form a portion of theframe of a piece of furniture such as a sofa, recliner, table, loveseat, desk or chair.

In one embodiment, the bracket assembly 1 features a bridge 2 and one ormore reversibly connectable arms 14. The bridge 2 and arms 14 connect ina manner now to be explained. Bridge 2 has arm receiving slots 8 a and 8b, said slots fashioned to receive bridge receiving slots 26 a, 26 b ofsaid arm 14, thereby permitting free coupling of arms 14 and bridge 2,thus forming bracket assembly 1. As will be readily apparent, bridge 2and arms 14 may be freely de-coupled from one another. In oneembodiment, the interlocking of the bridge 2 and the arms 14 may beaccomplished without the use of any specialized tools or fasteners. Thecoupling and de-coupling of the bridge 2 and arms 14 is described ingreater detail below.

Bridge 2

As illustrated in FIGS. 1-5, in one embodiment, the bridge 2 includes acentral span 12 and a wing 10 a, 10 b. Further, the central span 12 andwing 10 a, 10 b may be disposed such that the intersection of centralspan 12 with the wing 10 a, 10 b form angles β1, β2 shown in FIG. 5. Inone embodiment, the central span 12 and the wing 10 a, 10 b comprisingthe bridge 2 are formed of the same piece of material featuring two (2)bends at the intersection of the central span 12 and the wing 10 a, 10b.

As further illustrated in FIGS. 1-5, in one embodiment, the bridge 2 hasa plurality of apertures located on the central span 12 and the wing 10a, 10 b. In one particular embodiment, the central span 12 features atleast one central aperture 6, and the wing 10 a, 10 b feature at leastone wing aperture 4 a, 4 b respectively.

In one embodiment, bridge 2 also includes one or more arm receivingslots 8 a, 8 b. As will be described below, the arm receiving slots 8 a,8 b) allow the bridge 2 to reversibly connect to the arms 14. In oneembodiment, the arm receiving slots 8 a, 8 b are located approximatelyat the intersection of the central span 12 and wing 10 a, 10 b. Further,in this embodiment, the arm receiving slots 8 a, 8 b are notches cut inthe bridge 2 extending from the edge of the bridge 2, but stopping shortof the opposite edge of the bridge, as shown in FIGS. 1-5.

In one preferred embodiment, the bridge 2 comprises a central span 12and two (2) wings 10 a, 10 b are connected opposite one another to thebridge 2 distal the central aperture 6. In this embodiment, the wings 10a, 10 b and the central span 12 angularly connect proximate to the armreceiving slots 8 a, 8 b forming angles β1, β2 of approximately 25-55degrees. In one embodiment, angles β1, β2 are approximately 45 degrees.As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, in this preferred embodiment, the bridge 2may be divided by line z through the central aperture 6 and the portionsof the bridge 2 on either side of line z are approximately mirror imagesof one another.

Arms 14

As illustrated in FIGS. 6-10, in one embodiment the bracket assembly 1includes an arm 14 that reversibly connects with the bridge 2. In oneembodiment, the arm 14 includes a central region 18 and a flange 20 a,20 b connected opposite one another to the central region 18. In onepreferred embodiment, the bracket assembly 1 includes two (2) arms 14each of which includes one (1) central region 18 and two (2) flanges 20a, 20 b.

In one embodiment, the flange 20 a, 20 b lie in a plane that is parallelto, but distinct from, the plane in which central region 18 of the arm14 lies, as represented by lines x and y in FIG. 10. This is achievedthrough respective offsets 22 a, 22 b defined by the intersections ofsaid flanges with central region 18, as more fully described below.

In one embodiment, the central region 18 connects to the flanges 20 a,20 b through offsets 22 a, 22 b wherein the distance between the planesrepresented by lines x and y is spanned by the offsets 22 a, 22 b. Inone embodiment, offsets 22 a, 22 b comprise one continuous segment. Itwill be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the length of saidlinking segments will generally correlate with the thickness of saidbridge to achieve a snug fit upon coupling of said bridge and said arms.Further, in the embodiment best shown in FIG. 10, the intersections ofthe offsets 22 a, 22 b with respective flanges 20 a, 20 b and theintersections of said offsets 22 a, 22 b with central region 18 comprise“curved” portions to facilitate coupling with said bridge. However, aswill be recognized by those skilled in the art, in other embodiments,offsets 22 a, 22 b may comprise angular bends.

In one embodiment, arms 14 include at least one bridge receiving slot,depicted as 26 a, 26 b in FIGS. 6-9. The bridge receiving slots 26 a, 26b, in one embodiment, may be located on the central region of the arm14, adjacent to the offsets 22 a, 22 b. In one embodiment, the bridgereceiving slots 26 a, 26 d are notched in the arm 14 extending from theedge of the arm 14 but stopping short of the opposite edge of the arm14. As described below, the bridge receiving slots 26 a, 26 b allow thearm 14 to be reversibly connected with the bridge 2.

In one embodiment, the arm 14 features an aperture 16 located on thecentral region 18 of the arm 14. In one particular embodiment, theaperture 16 is centrally located on the central region 18. In oneembodiment, an arm 14 may be divided about line a through the aperture16 in the central region 18, as shown in FIG. 9. In this embodiment, theportions of the arm 14 on either side of line a are approximately mirrorimages of one another.

In a further embodiment, the flange 20 a, 20 b comprises a plurality ofapertures, shown as 24 a, 24 b, 24 c, 24 d. In one particularembodiment, each flange 20 a, 20 b comprises two (2) apertures, though,as will be recognized by those skilled in the art, a flange 20 a, 20 bcould include more or less apertures depending upon the intended use ofthe bracket assembly 1. The apertures of the flange and bridge willfacilitate secure connection to each other through fastening means. Theapertures of the flange and the bridge also facilitate secure connectionof the bracket assembly with work pieces through fastening means.

Construction of the Bracket Assembly 1

The bracket assembly 1 may be assembled as described herein, althoughthe method of assembly described herein is only exemplary and is not tobe construed as limiting and other methods of assembly recognized bythose skilled in the art should be considered within the scope of thepresent disclosure.

In one preferred embodiment shown in FIGS. 11-18, the bracket assembly 1comprises one (1) bridge 2 and two (2) arms 14 a, 14 b. To construct thebracket assembly 1 a user connects the bridge 2 to a first arm 14 b byengaging the bridge receiving slot 26 b of said arm with the armreceiving slot 8 b of said bridge. In one embodiment, this engagementmay occur by positioning the arm 14 b over the bridge 2 and aligning thebridge receiving slot 26 b of the arm 14 b above the arm receiving slot8 b of the bridge 2 and lowering the arm 14 b relative the bridge 2until the arm 14 b and the bridge 2 are connected. A second arm 14 a,may be connected to the opposite end of bridge 2 in a similar fashion.It is envisioned that the coupling process of an arm and bridge may beachieved by hand, without the need of significant force or excessivepressure.

In one embodiment, after the bracket assembly 1 is constructed, wing 10b of the bridge 2 is positioned behind the central region 18 of the arm14 b and the wing 10 a of the bridge 2 is positioned behind the centralregion 18 a of the arm 14 a as shown in FIGS. 12 and 14. Further, afterconstruction of the bracket assembly 1, wings 10 a, 10 b may lie insubstantially the same plane as respective flanges 20 a, 20 b of thearms 14 a, 14 b, as further shown in FIGS. 12 and 14. The alignment ofthe wings 10 a, 10 b with the flanges 20 a, 20 b creates an even (or“smooth”) surface against which a work piece W1, W2 may be placed andaffixed.

In one embodiment, after construction of the bracket assembly 1, theaperture 4 a, 4 b of wing 10 a, 10 b align with the aperture 16 of thearm 14. This alignment serves several purposes. First, it allows thebracket assembly 1 to be attached to the work pieces W1, W2. Second, itallows the bridge 2 and the arm 14 to be held in position relative toone another.

Use/Advantages

The bracket assembly 1 of the present disclosure has many uses; howeverit is believed to be especially useful for the furniture industry. Inone preferred embodiment, the bracket assembly 1, after construction,may be positioned, so that work pieces engage the assembly 1. As shownin FIGS. 12, 14 and 16 the work pieces W1, W2, W3 comprise part of theframe of an article of furniture such as a sofa, love seat, table, deskor chair as it is desirable to create a “square” corner in the frames ofthe furniture to both provide the necessary structural strength to thefurniture and the aesthetic qualities desired by purchasers. Wherecreating a “square” intersection of a frame or other work pieces isdesirable, other articles of manufacture may also benefit from the useof the bracket assembly 1.

As shown in FIGS. 12, 14, after the work pieces W1, W2 are positionedagainst the flanges 20 a, 20 b and the wings 10 a, 10 b of the bracketassembly 1, fastening means may be used to attach the bracket assembly 1to the work pieces W1, W2 through the apertures in the bracket assembly1. The fastening means may be any suitable fastener recognized by oneskilled in the art such as screws or nails. In one embodiment, thebracket assembly 1 may be attached to the work pieces W1, W2 through theapertures 24 a, 24 b, 24 c and 24 d located respectively on the flanges20 a, 20 b of the arms 14 a, 14 b. In other embodiments it is desirableto attach the bracket assembly 1 to the work pieces W1, W2 through thealigned apertures 4 a, 4 b located respectively on the wings 10 a, 10 bof the bridge 2 and the apertures 16 located respectively on the centralregions 18 of the arms 14 a, 14 b. It will be appreciated that variouscombinations of attachments and level of securement between the assemblyand the work pieces can be achieved through variations in the number,locations and use of apertures on the bridge and arms. In one furtherembodiment, a third work piece W3 may be attached to the bracketassembly 1 through the central aperture 6 of the bridge 2.

As would be recognized by one skilled in the art, it may be desirable tohave any or all of work pieces W1, W2, W3 removably attached to thebracket assembly 1 and such removable attachment may be accomplishedthrough the use of screws or similar fasteners. In other embodiments, itmay be desirable to permanently attach the bracket assembly 1 to any orall of the work pieces through the use of nails or other such fasteners.

In one embodiment, after the construction of the bracket assembly 1 andthe attachment of the work pieces W1, W2, W3 to the bracket assembly 1,the work pieces W1, W2, W3 comprise an approximately ninety (90) degreeor “square” corner.

The bracket assembly 1 of the present disclosure offers many advantagesover the prior art including less expensive and more efficientmanufacturing of the bracket assembly 1. It will be appreciated that thecomponents of the bracket assembly may be standardized and used on avariety of work pieces, without the need for custom fitting. Thecomponents may be fashioned using various materials, although to achieveoptimum results, it is envisioned that sturdy and durable materials suchas steel or aluminum will be used. For certain applications, such aslight or less expensive work pieces, it is conceivable to utilizeplastic or other lightweight and less expensive materials to constructthe bracket assembly 1.

What is claimed:
 1. A bracket assembly comprising: a. a bridgecomprising: i. a central span, ii. a wing attached to the central span,the wine comprising an aperture, iii. an arm receiving slot; and b. anarm comprising: i. a central region comprising an aperture and ii. aflange, wherein said central region and said flange are connected by anoffset; iii. a plurality of apertures and wherein the bridge and the armare connectable and wherein said aperture of the central region of thearm and the aperture of the wing align when the bridge and arm areconnected.
 2. The bracket assembly of claim 1 wherein the bridge and thearm engage angularly disposed work pieces.
 3. The bracket assembly ofclaim 1 wherein said bridge further comprises an aperture.
 4. Thebracket assembly of claim 1 wherein the bridge further comprises a firstportion and a second portion, the first and second portions comprisingmirror images relative to a centerline dissecting the aperture of thecentral span.
 5. The bracket assembly of claim 1 wherein the arm furthercomprises mirror images relative to a centerline dissecting the apertureof the central region.
 6. The bracket assembly of claim 1 wherein uponconnection of the bridge and the arm, the wing and the flange will liein the same plane.
 7. The bracket assembly of claim 1 wherein thecentral span and the wing intersect at an angle of approximately 45degrees.
 8. The bracket assembly of claim 1 wherein the offset iscurved.